The truth about Japanese politics

If you've worked in Japanese company, you know that official power and actual power are separate things. The nominal heads get the salaries and outward respect you would expect them to get. But meanwhile, other people usually run the show behind the scenes.While you wouldn't know it by reading the Economist, which treats the goings on of Japanese elected officials in the same narrative as western politicians, the same is true of Japanese politics. Most of it is just for show; the bureaucrats run the show, and the elected officials count on them to do it. They don't even really delve into their matters much unless they involve money or re-election. Which is why you see Japan's finance minister speaking drunk at a press conference. Wonder how the world's second largest economy can have such an incompetent person in power? The answer is quite simple, really: he isn't actually expected to do anything. The bureaucratic machine has essentially run Japan since 50's.Anyway, that's why I usually don't pay much attention to Japanese politics, and why I'm paying so much more now. If I had to bet, I would say the DPJ will fail at what it's trying to accomplish. But it's trying, and that's worth some attention.Press home and read what else this guy is saying. He knows of what he speaks.